Warhawk -- Operation: Omega Dawn Review

It's always darkest before the Omega Dawn.

Last August, PS3 owners were invited to leap into a digitally downloaded or Blu-ray disc cockpit and fly into battle with Warhawk, Incog Inc.'s multiplayer-only war zone. The battles were epic and fast-paced, and the wreckage of blasted gliders and blown up tanks littered the battlefield. But while some players were climbing up the ranks and others were simply becoming fodder for their gun sights, Incog was quietly working away at system updates and their first expansion pack for the title. The result was Warhawk – Operation Omega Dawn, which offers a stronger play experience, a brand new map, and a new vehicle that changes the tactics on the battlefield significantly.

Omega Dawn's largest attraction is the inclusion of the brand new KT-424 Combat Dropship, which easily dwarfs the Warhawks, gliders and tanks. Thanks to its size, pilots can transport up to six soldiers and a ground vehicle, such as the tank or jeep, across a map and into the middle of a firefight. This is obviously invaluable during a Capture the Flag or Zones match when you need to drop a small force of troops into a critical area and perform a lightning strike against your opponents when they least expect it. But don't assume that this is a defenseless transport vehicle; not only does the Dropship have strong armor plating, it also packs a significant punch against any incoming threats thanks to its defensive countermeasures based on whether its in hover or flight mode. In flight, the Dropship can use its six swarm missile turrets to eliminate airborne hazards, while in hover mode it can deploy six auto-cannons to quickly chew through ground defenses, soldiers and vehicles.

That'll increase the price of gas...

Initially, it might seem as though a vehicle with such firepower would possibly destroy the balance of the game completely. However, Incog struck a definite balance with its inclusion in a couple of ways to ensure that players wouldn't be pushed away from the title. First of all, the Dropship's top speed and maneuverability are significantly reduced within battle, which can make it extremely difficult to evade flak cannon bursts or missiles (if all of the transport's chaff countermeasures have been used). This can result in anyone or anything in the Dropship quickly being turned into scrap in a matter of seconds.

Another twist is that unlike the other vehicles in the game, Dropships respawn at a much slower rate, ensuring that overzealous pilots can't constantly get shot down and return with these behemoths into battle a few seconds later. Finally, unlike Warhawks and Gliders, which can be stealthy in combat, the sound of these Dropships are noisy enough to catch the attention of any soldier around. The sound made me think of the ships from the Matrix trilogy, and kicked into hover mode, the craft almost looked like one of them. However, the cacophony of their landing drew most enemy soldiers in the area to immediately target any dropship to instantly remove this hazard from their sights. However, in the hands of a skilled pilot, a Dropship can be a thing of beauty to behold in the middle of a fight. I've witnessed experienced Dropship pilots slide in and under defenses, drop their troops and escape with minimal damage as they provide air support.

Neo, is that you?

While the inclusion of the Dropship across all previous maps is the most apparent change to Warhawk, Omega Dawn also adds a brand new map known as the Omega Factory. The first nighttime battlefield for the game, and easily one of the largest maps as well, the Omega Factory is packed full of aerial hazards thanks to its smokestacks, elevated pipeways and other industrial features. In dogfighting matches, this adds a new level of strategy because accomplished fliers can maneuver in and out of pylons, evading incoming fire very easily. However, the Omega Factory also showcases an interesting twist to the traditional Zone markers; instead of flagpoles to indicate base markers, the Omega Factory bases are giant glowing energy cores that change to either the Eucadian or Chernovan colors. It feels rather appropriate given the visual look of the stage and even makes some of the other areas feel a bit lackluster by comparison.

However, if you're looking for radical changes, such as new gameplay modes, new soldier equipment, nighttime levels for other maps or visual enhancements, you're not going to find that in Omega Dawn. While you do receive some additional map layouts, those are kept for small player-count games such as maps between four to eight players that are trying to restrict the game area to one isolated region of a larger map. Otherwise, Omega Dawn fully takes advantage of the version 1.2 update to indicate what servers are running which version of the game with a color coded and icon system. Green means that your game has been fully updated and will run anything on the server, while yellow means that some missions or battles on a server won't be available to you and red means that you don't have any of the appropriate content and will need to download additional updates or expansions. Since Omega Dawn-only maps have been branded with an Omega Dawn icon (and official Sony servers are branded with OD in the titles on top of their standard designation), it's easy for even users that choose not to download the expansion to figure out whether or not they'll be able to play against their friends or whether the expansion is worth it to them.

The Verdict

It's impressive how well the Dropship fits into the meticulously balanced gameplay of Warhawk. Not only does it force a number of new tactical approaches to modes like Capture the Flag and Zones, it doesn't overpower the pre-existing vehicles. While Omega Dawn doesn't add a ton of content to the title, how it takes advantage of the 1.2 update along with the tactical balance of the game makes it perfect for Warhawk fans looking for a new twist to this enjoyable multiplayer game.